Hello,
If youare building a 14 x 14 platform can you use 2 x 4's for the joists, if the platform is sitting on a floor, and still put kitchen appliances on it? Would putting the joists closer than 1 ft. help? The floor boards may be 1 x 4?
Thank you.
I sure wouldn't. This may help
Why? His "platform" is sitting on another floor that, presumably, is strong enough to carry the load. The only thing is 2x4s are doing is raising the floor a few inches (i.e. "a platform").
Yeh you're right. I think a better option though might be using 3" thick steel 2x4 beams and 1" thick titanium flooring.
If you're gonna use 2x4's as joists, then you'll need to make sure they are either:
a. sitting flat on an existing floor or b. supported (suppose you have to level it or something) every 2 feet or so. i have done just this myself to make a level spot for a washer and dryer in a kitchen owlcove, and used tapered door shims every foot or so to support it. then i poured wood glue over each spot to make sure they didn't work out from under there.
harry wrote the following:
You are going to put an underlayment between the 2x4s and the finish flooring, right? I would put the 2x4s perpendicular to the existing joist layout, then the underlayment, then the finish flooring in any direction you want.
I think your solution is a little more expensive. ;-)
I'm doing something similar in my bonus room (FROG). I have no idea why the builder did it, but the top of the garage rafters are ~9" below the second story floor. A 2x3 nailed flat on the bottom of a 2x8 some quite close to raising it to the right level.
In this situation the 2x4's are just spacers. The load is stll caried by the original floor underneath. The type and thickness of the flooring material on top of the 2x4's determines the spacing between the joists.
Do you have any minimum ceiling height building code rules to be concerned with? That could come back and bite you one day.
LdB
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